“Now I want to hug my sisters and the rest of my family. I also want to brush my teeth by myself and wash my face.”

The new arms were fitted at Queen Mary’s Hospital in London in treatment paid for by the Kuwait government. His left arm is a cosmetic prosthetic, because there was little remaining limb for surgeons to use, the paper said.

On his right side he has a working artificial limb operated by electrodes touching his remaining arm muscle.

Abbas is being treated at a London rehabilitation centre with another maimed Iraqi boy, Ahmed Mohammed Hamza, who lost a leg and a hand.

“Everybody is very nice, the doctors, cleaners and the coffee lady,” said Abbas.